BOOK SYNOPSIS

Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Disaster in this thrilling and sexy debut novel, in which a college student learns her perfect life is a lie and finds new love where she least expects it—a mental institution.

Freaks, misfits and psychopaths. Those are the kinds of people found at Newton Heights Psychiatric Hospital, and high-society girl Lucy White’s new home.

Freaks, misfits and Jayden McCray. Jayden has his own set of rules for life at Newton Heights, and in this contradictory guy Lucy finds a way to live with the events that left her cheating boyfriend and best friend dead and Lucy in the middle of the investigation into their demise.

The problem? Jayden makes her want things she’s not supposed to have, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality and making Lucy feel more at home in Newton Heights than she ever did at home. But this isn’t how her life is supposed to be.

Or is it?

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EXCERPT

I framed his face with my palms and held his gaze. “You can’t hold yourself responsible for other people’s poor decisions.”
He slid his fingers up over my wrists. His touch was feather-light, but his warmth seeped deep into my soul. “Ditto.”
Tears flowed, and I was helpless to stop them. This was what life was all about, I realized. People were meant to be honest with each other and to trust, not to manipulate. I was more resolved than ever to own up to my mistakes and take charge of my life. This was what I wanted, what I needed.
He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes and drank in his light, his goodness. Jayden’s biggest problem wasn’t that he tried to protect the entire ward—it was that he cared too much. There was nowhere for all of those emotions to go, nowhere he could find solace.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close. As he tilted his head, I opened to him, eager to drink in his goodness. Let me be your sanctuary. I needed his emotions as much as he needed to give them to me.
When he broke away, I was breathless. Breathless, but determined. He had shared a part of himself with me. Now I wanted to share a part of myself with him.
While I wasn’t quite ready to share anything about my trial, there was something else I could offer him.
“Lucy, wait.” Jayden’s voice sounded panicked as I reached for his belt buckle.
“I don’t want to wait.” I flipped the buckle loose and glanced down at his erection, which was growing larger by the second. “I’m tired of waiting.” I wanted to strengthen our connection, to feel him inside of me. The more I learned about Jayden, the more I realized I needed him. Just like he needed me.
For the first time in my life, I was making my own decisions. I was deciding to be intimate with Jayden in every way possible, and it felt wonderful. Freeing.
I leaned forward to kiss him, but he moved his head at the last minute.
“Lucy—I have to tell you something before we do this. It’s about my uncle.”
“You’ve said enough.” He’d told me about the demons from his past. No one had ever trusted me like that before, not even Kyle. Trust like that deserved something in return. I didn’t need to hear more, and in that moment, I didn’t want to.
“Kiss me,” I said. Before he could respond, I pressed my lips against his. I felt him hesitate, and then it was as if something gave way inside of him. Jayden tilted his head, urging me to open to him. I did and with a groan he invaded my mouth, exploring, tasting . . .
“God, Lucy.” He started to touch me and as his fingers brushed over my skin, I knew I was lost.

AUTHOR BIO

At fourteen, Ava snuck her first romance novel into bed and read it by flashlight. There she met her first “book boyfriend” and has been hooked on reading ever since. She often prefers book-boyfriends to the real thing, and believes that a gooey, fudge brownie is a little piece of heaven on earth. When she’s not writing, she’s stumbling through her Zumba class (have to work off those brownies somehow), obsessing over the latest PINK song, or feeding her addiction for reality television.